- A South African lawyer who has also worked as an academic in the human rights field and a campaigner against domestic violence has taken over as the new United Nations independent expert to tackle violence against women.
Rashida Manjoo succeeds Yakin Ertürk as the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, and has been initially appointed by the UN Human Rights Council until June 2012.
“Violence against women violates human dignity, as well as numerous rights, including the right to equality, physical integrity, freedom and non-discrimination,” said Ms Manjoo, in a press statement issued today in Geneva, where the Human Rights Council is based.
“I believe that equality and equal protection doctrines demand that we address violence against women, in all its manifestations, as discrimination against women. It is my hope to work within this framework during my mandate,” she said.
Ms Manjoo has both taught and conducted research at several universities, including Webster University and Harvard Law School, both in the United States, as well as the University of Cape Town.
In her native South Africa, Ms Manjoo was also a former parliamentary commissioner of the Commission on Gender Equality, conducted training programmes for judges and lawyers on law, race and gender issues, and set up a domestic violence assistance programme at the Durban Magistrates Court, the first such project in a court in her country.
Like other rapporteurs who report to the Human Rights Council, Ms Manjoo will serve in an unpaid and independent capacity.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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